Canadian Cabinet Gains Authority to Approve Banned Pesticides

Parliament passed Bill C-30 on Thursday, giving cabinet new powers to approve pesticides that Health Canada has deemed unsafe when ministers determine the products serve economic or national food-security interests. The bill was approved by both the House of Commons and the Senate before Parliament adjourned for the summer.

The pesticide provisions were included in an omnibus measure that otherwise addressed items from the spring economic update. Cabinet can now authorize a pesticide for up to six years if it judges the product necessary to address a seriously detrimental infestation, regardless of any earlier denial by the health minister.

Environment and health organizations and scientists from 13 universities said the changes represent the largest overhaul of Canada's pesticide rules in a generation. A public health doctor with the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment stated that cabinet is now positioned to overrule scientific assessments and that existing regulatory processes already protect people and the environment.

A senator specializing in pollution and human health said the legislation marks a fundamental shift by allowing ministers to set aside Health Canada safety decisions. The senator also noted that scientists and experts were not invited to testify before parliamentary committees.

The Bloc Québécois, NDP and Green Party said the government limited debate and fast-tracked the bill.

A spokesperson for the health minister wrote that the new authorities are intended for exceptional circumstances only and will not be exercised lightly. The same statement pointed to the recent temporary approval of strychnine in Alberta and Saskatchewan for ground-squirrel control under existing emergency-use rules, subject to additional environmental restrictions.